Mergers & Acquisitions

January, 2019

• 30 January

  Visa Eyes More Contactless Cards And More Volume From Visa Direct

  

  Visa Inc. saw payment volume growth of nearly 11% in the quarter ended Dec. 31, and sees ever-more contactless cards and volume on its Visa Direct real-time payments service in its future. Visa on Wednesday reported a respectable first quarter of fiscal 2019, according to its chief executive, despite the …
• 30 January

  PayPal Chalks up a Big Quarter As It Decouples From eBay And Ratchets up Venmo

  

  In reporting its performance for the fourth quarter of 2018 as well as the full year, PayPal Holdings Inc. indicated its dependence on former owner eBay Inc. is down, Venmo monetization is up, and active accounts are surging. Meanwhile, the San Jose, Calif.-based company said it is entering a potentially …
• 30 January

  Apple Pay Volume Exceeds 1.8 Billion and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/30/19

  

  Apple Pay processed more than 1.8 billion transactions in fiscal 2019’s first quarter ended Dec. 31, “well over twice the volume” of the year-earlier quarter, Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook told analysts late Tuesday, according to a SeekingAlpha.com call transcript. Apple Pay is now live in 27 countries, most recently …
• 29 January

  TSYS Sets ‘Aggressive Goals’ for Vital But Predicts ‘Headwinds’ From the CFPB’s Prepaid Rule

  

  Top executives at Total System Services Inc. on Tuesday predicted big results from the Columbus, Ga.-based processor’s new Vital line of point-of-sale payment devices but also warned the onset of a massive federal regulation this spring will crimp prepaid card revenues in 2019. They also assured analysts on a conference …
• 29 January

  Square Faces Slower Growth Prospects, Analyst Says

  

  Square Inc.’s share price slid 10% Tuesday in the wake of an analyst’s report saying growth for the high-flying merchant processor is becoming tougher. Square’s organic growth probably peaked in 2018’s third quarter and growth in subscriptions and services will slow in 2019’s second quarter as recent acquisitions are absorbed, …
• 25 January

  Mastercard Aces Out Visa in Sudden Bidding War for B2B Processor Earthport

  

  In a rare public bidding war pitting the two leading payment card networks against each other, British business-to-business payment processor Earthport Plc’s board of directors on Friday recommended that its shareholders accept Mastercard Inc.’s all-cash buyout offer, which is 10% higher than Visa Inc.’s offer the board endorsed less than …
• 25 January

  Discover Reports 4Q Results and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/25/19

  

  Discover Financial Services said its payments services operation, which includes network partners, Diners Club International, and the Pulse electronic-funds transfer network, processed $60.5 billion in total volume in the fourth quarter, a 12% increase year-over-year. Volume on Pulse jumped 11% to $47.1 billion owing to new issuers as well as …
• 24 January

  TNS Buys R2G Services and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/24/19

  

  Data-communications provider Transaction Network Services acquired R2G Services, a Chicago-based provider of a market-data and managed-hosting platform; terms were not disclosed. Payment processor Repay Holdings LLC, which private-equity firm Corsair Capital acquired in 2016, said it has a definitive merger agreement with Thunder Bridge Acquisition Ltd., a special-purpose acquisition firm …
• 22 January

  Seeing Big Revenue Potential in Payments, Mitek Suitor Turns Its Eye on eBay

  

  The activist hedge fund behind the move to take remote deposit capture software provider Mitek Systems Inc. private said Tuesday that it has acquired a 4% stake in eBay Inc. and is advocating for changes to improve the online marketplace’s profitability, including through payments opportunities. New York City-based Elliott Management …
• 22 January

  Integrating Fiserv and First Data Could Take Up to a Decade, Report Says

  

  The proposed mega-deal that has Fiserv Inc. buying First Data Corp. for $22 billion presents integration issues that could take up to 10 years to iron out, according to a new report. “The integration of two companies of this scale will undoubtedly be a challenge—the short-term shock will take more …